Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-06-22
ALL ABOUT SODA WATER.
son 0S9IR8 OH lHrDeosr rO fsB
rOURO NAR alsA q 9iRL
Pssassss AUsus the msnuasSsare oi the Flald
fSas Enanstes From shs "FBs" Fosntain.
the wonderful. Popu,aa ~ Of This
0rsss summer Beverage

A soda fountain manuGactory 10 q busy
plsce In this season Of the year, aud yet this
o but the aftermath Of Q still moro busy
period. The Boston Trdrcier reporter wes
lwaro that this branch Of business was . very
Intensive one In Boston, but had no idea OF
To real magnitude until he visited big &C.
ut the West End. As the result
Di this visit q lot Of interesting statistics and
general Information regarding the extent Of
The business was obtained. Said manufac.
Iurer: Few people outside OF the trade itself
are aware OF the Importance which the busi.
ness has assumed. Those who have an idea
that the habit OF drinking soda has fallen of
among the American people are greatly mis-.
taken, for instead Of this Il Is growing more
and more popular every year. As the dc.
mAnd for this CerbOnated water increases, SO
also does the manufacture OF dispensing ap.
pSrStus increase in Importance. Improve
ments are being made In this respect each
year, aud the character Of the apparatus used
grows more aud more elaborate At the
present time the number OF sois fountains I'm
Boston cannot be less than $500 The aver.
age cost of these will bs about 500, aud they
range in price from 81 900 to s. tOCJ each. One
ot the most expensive in the city is worth
between &j,NO and $6,0NN
There are two others on Washington street
that could be mentioned, that cost g., 90 and
5000 each, respectively. We have orders
Tor fountains OF all grades, not only from
every part OF the United States, but all over
the world. Last year WAS the busiest We
has been nearly double that, aud up to date
we have sent out about SO fountains
OF late prejudice in favor OF glass for con-
tainiGg syruIs has grown up, although u
great many still prefer the pure block.,in.
Several attempts have been made from time
to time to throw soda water in disreputs on
account of its alleged uuhealthiulness but
they have been unsuccessful, for IL has beon
proved beyond ali question that there is all
soluteiy nothing deleterious in II, aud that 1t
cannot possibly be harmful, except when
kept in improper vessels
This block-tiu which il used IL not the
common timed sheet iron, but the pure metal, ,
absolutely non.corfOsiya Ii resembles leal
great deal, but has nothing in common
with that metal. 1t is the only Substance
through which soda water can be safely
drawn, and all soda pipes are either nsde Of
or lined with IL.
In former days the soda fountains in use
we're all comparatively small ones, placed
across the counter but they are now almost
exclusively placed next the wall. This gives
chsncs for much mere elaborate fountain.
Formerly the syrup Jars OF q soda fountain
were all placed in an upright position; now
they are made OF glass in the shape of wedges
aud lie horizontslly, being pulled I'm and out
like drawers The new system Is by far the
best, giving better flow aud less chance for
the collection Of sediment, a. well as afford
Ing room Tor very much larger cooler. THIS
cooler consists OF system Of inverted sau
GERS OF copper covered with block tin, and
little I-sbsled pipes which regulate the tiow
OF water aud gas. A coil of block tin pipe
underlies this cell system, and the result Is
that al intense and equitable GOODNESS Is
given to the soda passing through. All the
outward metallic fixtures Of fountain are of
DraSS Dip&i * Tin RllyeF DlAtaN-
Some OF the pieces OF apparatus sent out
nowadays are beautiful architectural struc-
lures, combining the skill OF the artist and
the very best mechanics They are made
of almost every conceivable kind OF marble,
and In some cases are lifted with massive
French plate glass mirror panels aud gas lets
often four Of five Of them. All sorts Of
scripturN ornamentationar indulged in, and
even terracotta friezss are inserted in some
Ot them. There are many different varieties
OF marble In use, both domestic and im.
ported, and most of them are very eX pensive.
The white Italian Ia the commonest kind
used, but white il rather going out of fashion
now aud colored mar bles are becoming more
popular. The most widely used is the Ten.
nessee marble, which is very beautiful
stone, and as expensive as many OF the i'm.
ported varieties The most popular foreign
marble 10 the FormOsa ("the beautiful"(, a
stone OF pretty purple-brown hue, slightly
marked and clouded, no two shades being
alike.
The Mexican onyx is the most beautiful
and most expensive OF all, and is worth p
cents PER pound in the block. Jasper is also
popular, perhaps because 1t is suggestive Of
the New Jerusalem, and coral marble, from
the Pacific islands, il also much in favor. We
also get good many tine varieties from Al
geria, but most Of the foreign marbles come
from Italy. America, ] should add, also
produces an excellent black marble.
Now, II you will come down TO the bsse-
ment with me, l will show you how We
manufacture the soda water. The big cylin-
drical machines you sss here are what are
called the generators They are made Of cast
iron and consist of three com partmsDts or
chambers The largest OF the three contain
marbled dust and water, from which the car
bOnic acid IL obtained. This next chamber
contains sulphurc acid, the purpose of
which ~ To liDefato the cartoon In the marble
dust The third chamber is what va call the
purifying one, and Ia hliSd with water. This
removes all the sui phurc acid from the car
ton and gas, and makes 1t ab-oiuteIy pure
and harmless. Neither marble dust nor sui
phuric acid enter into the SD-called sOds, but
only wholesome and beneficial carbOnic acid
gas, which occurs in large quantities in
various carbOnatea, limestone and marble
belng the most common form. One firm in
this city have several Jumho" generators
which are capable OF filling I0O fountains at q
time or quantity equal to 20 Ovo glasses OF
soda
After being generated the carboDic acid
gas II taken through flexible rubber pipes to
ths portable fountains.
These are made either OF steel or copper,
and are familiar objects to 8iI, whether soda
drinkers or not. These vessels have been
previously filled two thirds full OF water,
which Is violently agitated to compel the
water to take up the carbOnic acid gas. In
the process OF manufacturing the gas in the
generator, = very heavy pressure is dsveI.
Opod, which accounts for the necessity of the
strong metal Of which the fountains are
made Under this enormous pressure the
water will take up great many times its
volume in gas, and when the process Of filling
Ii com mpleted the fountain Ii charged with
pressure OF $50 pounds TO the square inch.
These fountains are sll lined with block tin,
and are connected by pipes OF the same
material with the marble dispensing spps-
ratus 1t trequires large number Of men
aud teams TO transport tbs 50 fountains to the
different soda water dispensarios each day.
The main requirement in this business 10
the strength and purity Of the soda water and
the strict purity Oi syrups used. Explosions
OF fountains are 80 rare that we seldom take
any notice OF them. Detective material Ii
generally the reason OF such ex plOsiOns. The
chief danger lies from letting the fountains
remain In the sun, which will cause q tire.
mendOus pressure and result in the bursting
Of the fountain. For this reason copper
fountains are the best for they will simply
rend under such pressure while stee!
vessel will fly into thousand piecss.
The amount OF capital invested in this
business all round Ii enormous, rs you will
readily see when you reflect that the smallest
apparatus in use represents IN outlay OF ESQ.
Tue popularity Of the article 10 Increasing in
. remsrksble degree. II enters into nearly